


there's no place i'd rather be

by SapphiraBlue



Series: HQ colorguard AU [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Colorguard, Colorguard AU, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 15:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6382066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphiraBlue/pseuds/SapphiraBlue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of the show came in a thunderous crash of chords, echoing away in the high stadium ceiling, the silence afterward breathless before applause swept through the stands.</p><p>Haikyuu!! Colorguard AU where Noya and Yaku are obvious to everyone but each other. Suga plots and Akaashi wins a bet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	there's no place i'd rather be

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to allie, my sounding board when I run out of ideas!! thanks for helping me through this. Many thanks to tumblr user kiraguchi as well - you've inspired me to write again with your love of noyaku!

The sabre whirled through the air, landing in the gloved hands of its wielder with a resounding _THWACK!_ Imagined applause smattered through the stands as Noya held his pose, practicing his expression in the mirrored wall of the dance studio the Karasuno Winterguard was assigned for practice. He was proud that a sudden flutter of nerves didn’t play themselves out on his normally expressive face.

As the final notes of their show music faded away, the rest of the team finally allowed themselves to come out of their poses and relax a little, letting out mildly aggrieved noises as their muscles protested. Even Noya was feeling the burn of hours of practice and the sting of new bruises that would only show their brilliant colors the next morning. Only Hinata still had the energy to let out excited noises and exclaim (again) that, “This show is so cool!! We’re gonna win _for sure_ this time!!!”

Noya breathed for a moment, before turning around with his signature wild grin in place, striding to Hinata’s side to affectionately ruffle his hair and tease him about his excitement about the upcoming Championships competitions. From Hinata’s flush and red ears it was easy to see he was excited not only because of the fated, long time coming Battle at the Garbage Heap between Karasuno and their rival Nekoma Guard. (Although, the presence of Nekoma’s Kozume Kenma seemed to be an important factor in his steadily deepening blush.)

Noya couldn’t say he wasn’t excited either. Between the rhythmic music and fast-paced work of the show, and the undercurrent of determination and small smiles Noya saw on the faces of the seniors, Noya was practically vibrating with anticipation. He was so excited that he completely missed the knowing glance Suga sent his way.

He was therefore completely surprised when Suga came up to him with a sly look on his face and patted (slapped) him heartily on the back, grinning and slyly commenting, “I bet you’re the most excited out of all of us, aren’t you?” Noya tried not to flinch, but was betrayed by his own body as his shoulders twisted away from Suga’s slowly tightening grip.

“I just want to make this the best show for you guys!” he tried to flatter Suga, but he was having none of it.

“You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with your _rival~_ ,” lilted Suga, only to be interrupted in his teasing by Ukai commanding everyone to the front to complete practice for the day. Suga went to stand by Daichi’s side with a pointed look at Noya, putting him on guard. That look could only mean that Suga was _plotting_.

~o0o~

By the next morning Noya had forgotten all about Suga’s machinations – not only was it some ungodly hour of the morning (seriously, it was so early it should be illegal), but he was also slowly filling up with excitement at the thought of today’s Championships competition. By the time he’d gotten to the bus to squeeze his way onto a seat towards the competition grounds, he was nearly overflowing with anticipation and anime sparkles. Even so, he managed to fall asleep leaning against Ryuu’s surprisingly comfortable bicep.

When they arrived at the competition, Noya couldn’t even start getting nervous. After making sure Hinata wouldn’t be horribly sick all over his uniform again like at their first competition, warmups and last minute run-throughs themselves were so hectic that Noya was constantly running around.

It was only as they were finally lining up to head towards the stadium to perform that Noya caught a flash of bright red at the corner of his vision. He whipped his head around almost on instinct to get a better look, not noticing that Suga just behind him was grinning evilly. That flash of red was successful in making Noya more nervous as he started thinking about their long-fated rivals _maybe possibly watching them shit what if **he** was watching- _

-But then they were moving, gathering backstage, and he didn’t have time to think about his ~~crush~~ _rival_ anymore. The show itself was a blur – setting up the floor and the equipment, getting into position, performing the best show of his life – it was all blurring by. A flash of red caught his attention again, up in the nosebleed section of the stands. In his next pose, he sought out the red and grinned as fiercely as he could (luckily the song called for that at that point- otherwise coach Ukai would’ve cheerfully murdered him for losing points on expression). He thought he caught an impression of wide golden eyes grinning down at him, but he was whirling away before he could actually tell.

The end of the show came in a thunderous crash of chords, echoing away in the high stadium ceiling, the silence afterward breathless before applause swept through the stands. Noya and the rest of Karasuno Winterguard held their poses until the roar of noise crescendo’d, and then they rushed around to clean up before the next guard came on – everything blurred again until Karasuno was finally all packed up again, changed out of their show outfits and back in their slick black warmup suits.

Noya was practically vibrating as the time of Nekoma’s show drew closer, but Ukai was still babbling on about the show and what all they needed to remember while watching other shows- when he finally stopped talking, Noya grabbed Ryuu’s wrist and pulled him along as he practically sprinted back towards the court. Eventually it turned into Ryuu pulling Noya along, but they skidded to a walk closer toward the stadium entrance, not willing to disturb the other shows going on. They made their way to a good block of open seats and sat down before Daichi could strangle them for running.

Nekoma’s show was phenomenal. By the end of it the rest of Karasuno had long since found their way into the stands, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the flashy shows, and sitting silent with awe through Nekoma’s. Their style was incredibly smooth, every toss and exchange practiced to perfection, every pose and movement fluid and exquisitely beautiful. Noya’s eyes found themselves drawn to one figure, who was rather on the short side but was nonetheless lithe and clearly a master of his sabre.

~o0o~

Yaku had spent his day much like Noya had, with the added bonus of trying to keep Lev under control. So by the time Nekoma took a break to watch Karasuno Winterguard’s show, he was practically dead on his feet. They were only in the stands to watch Karasuno’s show in the first place, so he couldn’t even sit down and catch his breath.

Once the show started though – that’s when he forgot all about his exasperation and his aches. Because Nekoma’s rivals were good. Even though they had sunk below the national level in the past few years, it was clear that this was the year Karasuno was making its comeback. This was the first time Karasuno and Nekoma had faced each other on an official level before, instead of at practice and training camps – the Battle at the Garbage Heap was finally becoming a reality.

Yaku tracked the figure of his ~~crush~~ _rival_ across the floor, feeling excitement mounting as he confidently tossed the highest toss of the show at the climax. He grinned so wide it hurt his face as Noya caught the blade firmly, without a wince on his face even though catching a toss like that probably hurt like hell. He forgot his exhaustion and was uncharacteristically gentle with Lev when Nekoma had to leave the stands to continue their own warmups.

When it was Nekoma’s turn to perform, Yaku entered the stadium with considerably more nerves fluttering in his stomach than he’d ever felt before. Catching a glimpse of jet black in the stands only worsened the fluttering in his stomach, but he clamped down on the butterflies with a vicious flick of his wrist as he sent a flag soaring through the air to Kuroo, catching the sabre Kenma passed to him in exchange.

~o0o~

When the competition officials called for retreat, Noya was practically in a tizzy. He almost didn’t notice Nekoma swan into the room, even with their bright red warmup suits over equally eye-catching show uniforms. He strategically hid behind Ryuu on the pretense of avoiding Hinata’s flailing, but really he was trying to avoid meeting Yaku’s eyes. It was just his luck that Nekoma was directed to line up right next to Karasuno, between them and Fukurodani. Trying to hide behind Ryuu when Yaku was _literally right next to him_ wasn’t going to work, so instead he turned to him as nonchalantly as he could and tried to grin his signature grin.

Noya’s short stature kept him from seeing Suga make deliberate eye contact with Akaashi of Fukurodani over their heads. He _definitely_ missed Suga sending Akaashi a slow nod and a sly wink. He _did_ notice when Akaashi smoothly stuck out a foot and ‘accidentally’ tripped Yaku right as he was turning to face Noya. They went down like something out of a clichéd romcom scene. Once the flailing limbs subsided, Yaku had ended up on his hands and knees over Noya in an attempt to not hurt him any more than the fall already had. They both flushed as their teammates either laughed uproariously or concernedly asked if they were all right. Yaku scrambled upright, holding a hand out to Noya to haul him off the floor. He rounded on Akaashi right afterwards, practically steaming out of his ears with embarrassment. Akaashi held up his hands and apologized for not seeing Yaku there with a completely straight face.

Yaku would have tried to fight Akaashi in all seriousness if they hadn’t all been called to line up to leave for the awards ceremony.

~o0o~

In the aftermath of the awards ceremony, all the guards on the floor condensed into a crowd of people, waiting for friends and family to come down to the floor to celebrate or cry with them. Noya felt a rough hand grab his wrist in the scrum, and he followed Yaku out of the stadium as he pulled him along. Noya stumbled as Yaku gently shoved him into an out-of-the-way niche in a back hallway of the stadium where they were sure to remain more or less undisturbed. The little nook was so narrow that they were practically standing chest-to-chest, practically breathing the same air.

There was a silence before a quiet, “Hey,” from Yaku.

“Hay is for horses,” replied Noya, just to be difficult. Yaku sighed, rolled his eyes in exasperation, and poked Noya in the shoulder.

“We should really talk, you know. We can’t just keep going on like this all the time,” he said, not unreasonably (in his opinion).

“Aren’t we talking now though? What more do you want from me? An epic sabre battle?? I’ll win!” Challenged Noya, a fierce grin lighting his eyes and stealing Yaku’s breath.

“No, not that, just… ah, just. C’mere.” And Yaku was hauling Noya in by his jacket lapels, missing his lips just a bit and kissing him very softly and gingerly on the corner of his mouth. He pulled away softly, eyebrows scrunched up in concern, searching Noya’s wide eyes for any sign of rejection or disgust.

Noya was very far from disgusted – this was everything he had been dreaming and fantasizing about for years. He wound his arms around Yaku’s neck, pulling him a little closer and rising up on the balls of his feet so he could kiss him excitedly. Yaku winced a little at his enthusiasm, because Noya wasn’t exactly the most careful with his teeth and bit down on his lower lip a little too hard. Yaku gladly rested his hands on Noya’s waist, correctly interpreting Noya’s sudden pouncing as agreement.

When they pulled away from the kiss, they were both smiling, Noya’s wide grin for once replaced with a small smile that radiated no less happiness for its size. Yaku smiled back deliriously, resting their foreheads together. Neither of them could believe that the other reciprocated their feelings.

Yaku couldn’t resist teasing Noya even now though. He smirked just a little and said, “You know my underclassmen are gonna whup your butt next year though, right? They won’t go easy on you just because we’re dating now.”

Noya laughed at him, and easily snarked back, even as his eyes rounded a bit at the word ‘dating’. Yaku smiled genuinely and tugged Noya out of the niche, tugging him back to the room they had all stored their belongings in, holding his hand the entire way there and even into the room.

~o0o~

It was just their luck that Hinata spotted them first, openly pointing at them and making his excited crow noises, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Members of Karasuno and Nekoma both crowded around the couple, congratulating them on finally getting their shit together.

Akaashi smirked and held out his hand, drawing groans from several guard members nearby. He smirked as he collected his winnings on the bet they had made on Yaku and Noya. He carefully counted out his winnings, and then handed half over to Suga. Suga shook his hand for longer than was strictly necessary, smiling radiantly at him with a sincere ‘pleasure doing business with you!’ that Akaashi returned with considerably more dry humor. Suga winked and blew a kiss at him as he left to round up his wayward charges.

Yaku and Noya ignored the antics of their respective guards, inclusive of Captains Daichi and Kuroo smiling tightly at each other and attempting to crush each others hands. They focused only on their own sincere goodbyes, shyly kissing each other on the cheeks with promises to try and meet up for a date soon. They parted with a squeeze of hands and a fond look.

Noya didn’t even wait to get on the bus before he texted Yaku and asked him out on a proper date.

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a oneshot, but it turned into this monster. This is the longest work of fiction I've ever written, so I'm pretty proud of it!!
> 
> Title from Rather Be (Pentatonic Cover)


End file.
